Unclear When Highway 154 Will Reopen

Here are aerial views of the Hwy.154 work, looking like they might be able to expose the culvert soon if the runoff keeps slowing. It's at the East end of the lake, as the wider shot shows (closure is at bottom-left).

Highway 154 remains closed from the Lake Cachuma State Recreation Area to Paradise Road following a series of winter storms which resulted in a blocked culvert near Lake Cachuma.

Caltrans has initiated an emergency project to clear the opening of this culvert approximately 40 feet below the surface which contains water and debris. Caltrans is removing the water with pumps and cameras to reach the opening of the blocked culvert.

Those wishing to visit Lake Cachuma may do so by traveling Hwy. 154 from the Santa Ynez area. Those traveling from Santa Barbara may only travel to Paradise Road. Businesses along Hwy. 154 remain open.

Motorists may use US Highway 101 as a detour. There is no estimate when this section of Hwy. 154 will re-open.

Update by Caltrans

10:00 a.m., February 6, 2019

STATE ROUTE 154 REMAINS CLOSED DUE TO BLOCKED CULVERT FOLLOWING WINTER STORM ACTIVITY

State Route 154 remains closed from the Junction with State Route 246 near Santa Ynez to Paradise Road following a series of winter storms which has resulted in a blocked culvert near Lake Cachuma.

Caltrans has initiated an emergency project to clear the opening of this culvert which is approximately 40 feet below the surface which contains water and debris. Caltrans is making progress in removing the water with the use of pumps and cameras to locate the opening of the blocked culvert.

There is no estimate when this section of Highway 154 will re-open. Motorists may use US Highway 101 as a detour. Caltrans engineers and maintenance staff are working to open the highway as soon as possible.

Businesses along Highway 154 including the area near Stagecoach Road remain open.

Update by edhat staff

10:00 a.m., February 4, 2019

Highway 154 remains closed indefinitely near Cachuma Lake following a series of winter storms due to a blocked culvert that resulted in a flow of water on the roadway.

Caltrans is working to clear the opening of this culvert which is 35 feet below the surface of the water and debris.

Highway 154 remains closed between Santa Barbara and SR-246 in Santa Ynez. The roadway is open to residents but through traffic must use Highway 101.

There is no estimate when this section of Highway 154 will re-open. Caltrans engineers and maintenance staff are working to open the highway as soon as possible.

#CAwx- CA 154 remains closed indefinitely near Cachuma Lake. A drainage culvert was filled with debris and water during Saturday’s storm damaging the Hwy. CA 154 is closed between Santa Barbara and CA 246 in Santa Ynez. For everything storm related, go to https://t.co/gujtJTUSEjpic.twitter.com/r7WZZZJj9j

The southbound lanes of Highway 101 have reopened as of 4:00 p.m. Saturday. However, the northbound lanes are currently closed. Caltrans is working diligently to reopen the Northbound lanes and it's been reported it could reopen between 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Saturday.

Highway 154 has now closed from SR-192 to SR-246 due to culvert repair and maintenance near Lake Cachuma.

59 Comments

The blockage in the pix I sent Ed is at Devaul Canyon, and it appears there may be two blocked culverts (one at each side of the canyon). In my pix there are two backhoes in position, and two stream beds to the lake on the North side of the roadway. There are at least nine pumps at the East side of the canyon. It's here on gMaps - https://goo.gl/maps/q7fzBmpwzcq

Anyone know more about the progress on opening the culvert than is posted on the Caltrans site (almost nothing, that is)? Been almost two weeks now. It's beautiful driving along the coast but I'd love to see the lake--over 50% full now!

I've just sent Ed two aerial views of the Hwy.154 work at the East end of Cachuma. This afternoon when we flew past, the water level was well below the highway, and the roadway looked clear. Presumably they need to open the culvert before they can open the highway. Didn't see any other areas of 154 with work going on, but maybe there are?

Tornadoes, the part of the thread talking about that reminds me of my midwestern early years with "air raid" sirens warning of a tornado. (1) Go to basement or cellar, or (2) Get in bathtub and pull a mattress over you, or (3) Get in interior of house in closet and cover head with pillow. Stay away from windows, don't run outside, protect yourself from flying debris. When it's over, check yourself, and if you are ok, see who you can help. Be prepared for people who are bleeding.

Yes, being within sight of an actual tornadoes isn't on my bucket list. A cutoff one can happen when upper level wind and clouds are moving in a circular pattern, and high speed laminar wind is blowing across it. The effect is a giant eye in the sky, with no indication of a funnel.

Glad you got to see it from a safe distance. We flew under a cut off tornado in KS once, as it happens we'd spent the nite at Liberty, KS where the farmhouse in WofOz was shot. Have seen a waterspout, and a monster dust devil. Used to think a tornado would be fun to see, but now the ones on TV are enough. ;)

West of Bakersfield we saw a funnel cloud. It never made it to the ground. The weather warning mentioned that those might occur today. In my whole life I have never seen one here or in the Midwest. We tried to take a photo. Maybe a news outlet from Bakersfield took one.

Some interesting comments here. Freeway closed so the L.A. Times can't come up?? Not because the road is blocked with mud, rocks and debris but just to keep reporters out? We are so unprepared for this? Maybe commenters could come up with a solution of how the keep (cleared out) creeks from overflowing with mud and debris in a downpour when fire burned hills send the stuff cascading down.

For those interested I encourage you to understand the concept of a floodplains and alluvial fans and how they form. Even after the debris flow last year people simply can't grok how all the boulders found in many areas of our community were emplaced. Examine a geologic cross-section from the ocean to Camino Cielo. The various strata, what geologists term formations(Coldwater,Juncal,etc. ), discontinue. If you extend and extrapolate them into the sky, which is easy to do as many of them are near vertical, in particular the Montecito overturn, imagine the vast quantity of alluvium that has been produced over the eons. Where did it all go? By what mechanism?

Since the freeway is closed (north) at the 150 Carpinteria Avenue is packed with north bound cars bumper to bumper. I have no idea where they think they are headed or going to pick up the freeway again if it's still closed.

I’m currently stranded in Summerland. The Highway patrol made an announcement stating the road (101 North) will be closed until at least midnight, but depending on the next storms severity, it will likely not be opened up to us until tmrw.
Only way is up around los Padres... 33-> 166-> 101 South- 4 hours of driving.

It rained .6 inch at our house in the foothills in a half hour this morning around breakfast time, and 1.6 inches in the four hours from 8 to noon--average of .4 inch an hour. Lots of surface flooding for about an hour after the downpour around 8:30-9. It's not the totals that are so important, it's the intensity. We learned a lot about that last January.